Cleaning material feeder for washing machines



E. c. CHANDLER EF AL CLEANING MATERIAL FEEDER FOR WASHING MACHINES June 5, 1934.

Filed Sept. 12, 1932 FIG. 1

Patented I June 5, 1934 UNITED STATES CLEANING MATERIAL FEEDER FOB WASHING Edward 0. Chandler,

Delamatter,

Cleveland Heights, Ohio;

MACHINES Cleveland, and Homer said Delamatter assignor to said Chandler Application September 12, 1932, Serial No. 632,658

1 Claim.

This invention relates to devices for feeding cleaning material in washing machines of the spray type. Devices of this kind usually comprise a container, which holds a cleaning com- 6 pound in the form of a powder, and which is placed in the washing machine in such position that part of the spray can enter the container and dissolve the compound, and then flow into the machine, thus charging the wash water with cleansing material.

Heretofore, a device of this nature has cmbodied a container into which the powdered material has been placed and which has been provided with a water inlet opening at the top and discharge openings in the bottom thereof. Thus the water trickled through the powder and gradually dissolved the same. I have found however, that when the machine is stopped, the

water drains entirely from the container andthe 2o powder becomes a hardened mass. Then when the machine is started, an interval of time approximating one-half hour is required before the hardened mass will be dissolved to the point where the wash water is being charged at the required rate. I have also found that considerable difliculty has been experienced in providing the proper arrangement of the discharge openings for if they are too large the material is wasted, while if they are too small, the solution will not flow at the required rate.

An object of our invention therefore is to provide a container which overcomes the objections enumerated and which can still be placed as a unit in the washing machine, and which will operate in a satisfactory manner by water which flows from the spray.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a device embodying our invention and Fig. 2 is a similar view showing a modifica- 4 tion of our invention.

In the drawing, we have shown a container 9 preferably cylindrical in shape and which has a side wall 10 and a bottom wall 11. A cover 12 may be hinged to the container at 13 and held in 5 place by a spring latch 14. We prefer to provide a compartment which is spaced inwardly from the walls of the container and which may V be formed by a partition 15 which terminates short of the top of the container. This partition divides the container into an inner compartment 16 in which the cleaning material is placed, and an outer compartment 17 which co-operates with the inner compartment to provide a tortuous" path for the flow of the cleaning solution. To this end, the water inlet is indicated as an opening 20 in the center of the cover, While discharge openings are shown at 21 in the wall 10 and in the upper region thereof. The openings are spaced substantially equidistantly from the botao tom of the container. Thus, water entering through the opening 20 will dissolve the cleaning material and flow over the partition into the outer compartment 1'7 arid out through the openings 21. This arrangement thus provides a reservoir of dissolved material within the container so that the device is always available for immediate use. By moving the water in a tortuous path within the container, the concentration of the solution may be maintained at a uniform rate.

Since the cleaning material is submerged within the water, it is desirable to provide some means for indicating the amount of undissolved material within the container. To this end, we have shown a fiat metallic member 30 which will sink in the water, but which will bear against the top of the undissolved material and be suspended thereby. A stem 31 projects upwardly from the part 30 through an opening in the cover, and thus provides a visible indicator for the amount of the material in the container.

The modification which we have shown in Fig. 2 is substantially identical with that shown in Fig. 1 except that the partition 15 is not utilized. With this arrangement, the container is filled with materiai'until the level thereof is below that of the openings 21. This therefore, assures a reservoir of solution at all times within the container.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that we have provided a cleaning material feeding device, which will not allow complete drainage of the container whenever the washing machine is stopped, and that we have provided an arrangement by means of which a visible indication of the amount of undissolved material within the container is provided at all times.

We claim:

A cleaning material feeding device comprising an outer container having a closed top, an inner container located within the outer container and forming a solution chamber between the walls of the outer and inner containers, the inner container having at least a major portion of the walls thereof spaced from the walls of the outer container, the top having an opening therein through which water may be admitted to the inner container, the inner container being adapted to hold a quantity of cleaning material in spaced relationship to the wall of the outer container, and the outer container having a discharge opening in the upper portion thereof whereby a reservoir of solution may be maintained at all times within the solution chamber.

EDWARD C. CHANDLER. HOMER. DELAMATTER. 

